Pieta

Michelangelo's Pieta makes you stop.  I stood in awe.  Mary holding the body of Jesus after the wrath of man has been poured on her innocent son.  It's graceful and breathtaking.  Which is probably just like Mary was.  How else do explain the response 'Behold I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.'  Oh the faith.  And humble acceptance.  That alone is a lesson for daily living.  Not my will, my plan, but yours.

The Pieta is also sad and stirring.  Mary, who was there at the joyous beginning, is also there at the end.  Her beloved son.  Her heart unlike the marble Pieta was broken.  All she had is all we have.

The promise of being fully alive, of resurrection life as we too are numbered among the crucified. 'Our old self was crucified with him... and we might no longer be enslaved to sin... reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus'  ~  Romans 6.6.

Our hard hearts transformed by a continued willingness to trust that His ways are better.  And they are.

John Piper said 'Never let the cross lose its crucifying power in your life. Never let it slip into the dim and misty past.'

His crucifixion.  It is finished.

His crucifixion.  It is not forgotten.

The Pieta is magnificent but the God-man exceeds all magnificence.  This astonishing masterpiece cannot compare to the masterpiece of the sacrifice that changed history.  Trust Him when it doesn't add up.  He is unafraid of our mess.

Grace cannot leave you where it found you... surely goodness and mercy will always come hard after us.